Women’s representation still weak in regulatory spaces: SC Judge

New Delhi: Supreme Court Justice Sanjay Karol on Thursday lamented that corporate women in senior regulatory positions were still given “soft portfolios” instead of the strategic ones.

Justice Karol was delivering the keynote address at the “National Conference on Legal Services 2025” organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The theme for the conference was “India’s Legal Landscape Supporting Businesses and Economy: Navigating Transformation”.

The top court judge said the constitutional commitments of equality and dignity enshrined in Article 14 (equality before law) and Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) must be incorporated into the corporate boardrooms for “just economic governance”.

He said women are still “underrepresented in boardrooms, committees, and senior regulatory spaces”, and even when included, they are often assigned “soft portfolios” instead of the strategic ones.

The Supreme Court judge said there is a need to address the persistent gender gap in corporate leadership and policymaking, which is responsible for shaping every boardroom decision.

Given the changing dynamics of policymaking in areas of climate risks, digital privacy, transport, and urban design, the absence of women’s voices leads to weaker, narrower, and less humane decisions, Justice Karol noted.

He highlighted the need for a legal and regulatory framework that is just and forward-looking.

Justice Karol said the rule of law must not act as a barrier, and efforts must be made to build a system that is fast but fair, modern but grounded, and ambitious but ethical.

He said that commercial courts and specialised tribunals had strengthened institutional arbitration and reflected a justice system determined to support economic growth.

“The new commercial codes, new arbitration and mediation frameworks, laws related to data protection, cyber security, and digital marketplaces are helping remove bottlenecks to create a modern regulatory state that enables trust and growth. India has been re-archiving a fair and predictable dispute resolution system through arbitration and mediation,” the apex court judge said.